Wire-mounting arrangement on a twin-wire vertical papermaking machine

ABSTRACT

A paper-machine-forming section wherein a web is formed between two generally vertically travelling wires trained over a plurality of guides in the forming section, the guides being arranged to define a serpentinelike path of travel for the opposed wire runs carrying a newly forming web therebetween. The plurality of guides (breast rolls and foils) are all mounted for their respective functions on a pair of selectively movable beams which permit rapid wire change or the like as desired with a single operation and similarly a rapid startup after such a wire change without the necessity of individually repositioning and readjusting the individual guide means. the movable beams are rigidly attached to the breast rolls and pivotally attached to a frame. Hydraulic pistons attached to the beam and to the frame accomplish the pivotal movement of the beam. A stop member attached to the frame limits the extent of the beam&#39;&#39;s pivotal movement.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Paul E. Tommeraasen Beloit, Wis. [21]Appl. No. 845,010 [22] Filed July 25,1969 [45] Patented Nov. 30, 1971[73] Assignee Beloit Corporation Beloit, Wis.

[54] WIRE-MOUNTING ARRANGEMENT ON A TWIN- WIRE VERTICAL PAPERMAKINGMACHINE 6 Claims, 2 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 162/273, 162/303 [51] lnt.Cl D2lf H00 [50] Field of Search162/200,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,149,028 9/1964 Robinson162/303 X 3,215,593 11/1965 Green 162/301 3,262,841 7/1966 Embry.162/303 X 3,326,745 6/1967 Graham 162/317 X 3,329,561 7/1967 Rojeckieta1 162/273 FOREIGN PATENTS 219,338 12/1958 Australia 162/303 PrimaryExaminer-S. Leon Bashore Assistant Examiner-Alfred D'Andrea, Jr,Attorney-Hill, Sherman, Meroni, Gross and Simpson ABSTRACT: Apaper-machine-forming section wherein a web is formed between twogenerally vertically travelling wires trained over a plurality of guidesin the forming section, the guides being arranged to define aserpentinelike path of travel for the opposed wire runs carrying a newlyforming web therebetween. The plurality of guides (breast rolls andfoils) are all mounted for their respective functions on a pair ofselectively movable beams which permit rapid wire change or the like asdesired with a single operation and similarly a rapid startup after sucha wire change without the necessity of individually repositioning andreadjusting the individual guide means. the movable beams are rigidlyattached to the breast rolls and 'pivotally attached to a frame.Hydraulic pistons attached to the beam and to the frame accomplish thepivotal movement of the beam. A stop member attached to the frame limitsthe extent of the beams pivotal movement.

PATENTEU mwso Ian WIRE-MOUNTING ARRANGEMENT ON A TWIN-WIRE VERTICALPAPERMAKllNG MACHINE Attention is directed to copending applications ofcommon assignee having U.S. Ser. Nos. 798,890 filed Feb. 13, 1969;844,755 filed July 25, 1969, now abandoned and 116,348 filed Feb. 18,1971, all of which disclose related subject matter.

The instant invention relates to fibrous web formations, and moreparticularly to an improved apparatus for making fibrous webs from adilute aqueous suspension thereof.

In relatively recent years the art of paper making has undergone anumber of significant advances in the field of paper web formation usingtwo'opposed forming wire runs for web formation therebetween ascontrasted to the heretofore more conventional Fourdrinier-typepapermaking machine employing only a single forming wire. Downwardlyinclined and/or substantially vertically aligned web-forming devicesusing two opposed forming wire runs are even more recent developmentsthat present unique problems in forming an acceptable web. Nevertheless,such vertically aligned web-forming devices allow the utilization ofsubstantially less floor space and higher speeds of operation therebymaking such arrangements economically attractive. Such verticaltwin-wire forming machines have met with a limited commercial successand these machines are still in the stage of being improved and variousaspects of the operation thereof are still in need of furtherimprovement. For example, such vertical formers utilize a plurality ofguide elements to guide the opposed wire rungs through a forming sectionand it is necessary from time to time to replace such guide elementsand/or the wire runs as they become worn out or damaged during theoperation of the machine. l-leretofore, it has been necessary tocompletely dismantle such a forming machine and replace the damagedelement thereof and then reassemble the machine for operation. It wouldbe highly advantageous to provide a means of simplifying this operationwithout detracting from the favorable features of such vertical formingsections.

Accordingly, it is an important object of the instant invention toprovide a novel arrangement allowing simple and rapid wire change in atwin-wire fonner.

It is another objectof the present invention to provide an improvedpaper-making-machine structure having a means of simply and economicallymoving guide elements into and out of operating position.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be readilyapparent from the following description of certain preferred embodimentsthereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, althoughvariations and modifications may be effected without departing from thespirit and scope of the novel concepts of the disclosure, and in which:

FIG. 1 is an essentially diagrammatical elevational view of apaper-machine-forming section embodying the principles of the instantinvention of the operating position; and

FIG. 2 is an essentially diagrammatical elevational view somewhatsimilar to that shown in FlG. 1 illustrating the machine in anonoperative position.

For sake of convenience, like reference numerals are utilized throughoutthe various FlGS. to refer to like elements. H6. 1 illustrates anessentially diagrammatical view of a paper-machine-forming section 10. Aheadbox ll appropriately communicates with a supply of paper stock (notshown) continuously supplying a dilute aqueous suspension of fibers tothe headbox 11 in a well-known manner. The headbox 11 communicates witha slice means 11a having devices 11b therein for increasing thedispersion of the fibers within the aqueous suspension while decreasingthe turbulence thereof; the additional details of preferred forms ofsuch devices are disclosed in copending Hill et al. U.S. Ser. No.698,633, which is incorporated herein by reference. It will beunderstood, however, that any conventional head box and slice means maybe utilized in place of the preferred slice means. The slice means 11afeeds a dilute aqueous suspensionof comoving fibers downstreamwise intoa vertically extending forming gap G as a high-speed, substantiallyunidirectional jetstream of ribbonlike thinness.

A pair of breast rolls 13 and 14 are mounted for rotation along ahorizontal plane as by bearing support means 13a and 14a respectively.In this manner, the breast rolls are capable of rotation in a givendirection, preferably toward one another as indicated by the curvedarrows. The bearing support means 13a and 14a are connected toselectively movable beam means B, and B, respectively, which in turn arepivotally attached as at P, and P to a suitable frame or support S. Thebreast rolls 13 and 14 are spaced apart a horizontal distance to definea vertically extending gap G therebetween that is thicker than theribbon-thin jetstream of stock exiting from the slice means 11a. Therolls 13 and 14 are also provided with doctor means 13b and 14brespectively on their off-running sides to cleanse their respectiveperipheral surfaces of any adherent foreign materials.

A first forming wire F, is trained to pass over breast roll 13 and isthen trained to pass over a plurality of foil guide means 15 which arealigned below the gap G successively downstreamwise in an opposinglystaggered manner to define a generally vertically aligned serpentinelikepath of travel therebetween generally concurring with the jetstreamdirection. The first wire F, continues to travel downwardly beyond thefoil guide means 15 to turning roll 19 and then away from the downwarddirection around a plurality of guide rolls 19a back to the upstreamportion of the forming section 10. One of the guide rolls 19a may beprovided with a tension means T, for maintaining a desired degree oftension within the travelling wire run, of course, if desired,additional tension means may likewise be provided. For convenience, thefirst forming wire and the forming wire run will both be referred to byreference numeral F,

A second forming wire F, is trained to pass over the opposed breast roll14 and then likewise trained to pass over the plurality of foil guidemeans 15 in the vertically serpentinelike path down to turning roll 21.Thereafter, wire F, turns away from the downward direction and over aplurality of guide rolls 21a back to the upstream portion of the formingsection 10. One of the guide rolls 21a is likewise provided with atension means T to maintain the desired degree of tension in the secondforming wire F,. For sake of convenience, the second wire and the secondwire run will both be referred to hereinafter as F It will also be notedthat guide rolls 19a and 21a are provided with doctor means 19b and 21brespectively at their off-running sides to remove any adherent foreignmaterials thereof. Further, it will be noted that breast rolls l3 and14, the plurality of foil guide means 15 and the wire runs F, and Fdefine an elongated forming chamber below slice means 11a wherein thestock steam is converted into a continuous fibrous web. Moreparticularly, it will be seen that forming wires F, and F, are guidedover the breast rolls l3 and 14 through initially close spacing at thegap G to receive the jetstream of stock therebetween. Directlythereafter, the wires are guided convergingly together into generalparallelism to pass over the plurality of spaced opposingly staggeredfoil guide means 15. As the jetstream of stock enters the initial closespacing of the forming wires, drainage and/or water removal takes placeimmediately through the respective peripheral surfaces of the formingwires on the off-running sides of the breast rolls 13 and 14 by virtueof gravity and tension within the forming wire runs. Such water removalcontinues throughout the forming section allowing drainage to occurthrough both sides of the sandwiched (wire-web-wire) structure. Thejetstream of stock is directed from the slice means 11a as asubstantially unidirectional jetstream of ribbonlike thinness atsubstantially jet speeds, i.e., 1,000 or more feet per minute. Thejetstream impinges substantially tangentially to the peripheral surfacesof rolls 13 and 14 in a pressure-creating relationship of the area ofconvergence. The speed of the jetstream is substantially converted intohydraulic pressure as the jetstream contacts the forming wires F, and Fand augments the aforediscussed drainage phenomena.

At the immediate off-running sides of the breast rolls 13 and 14,initial dewatering occurs removing water substantially in opposeddirections from the newly formed web as indicated by A,,, of FIG. 1. Inthis type of arrangement, the forming wires F, and F exert very little,if any, actual pressure on the jetstream at this stage of web formation.In other words, an easy pressure exists at the area of initial closespacing of the forming wires. This easy pressure merely contains thefibers between the travelling wires allowing proper distribution of thevarious sized fibers throughout the cross section of the newly formingweb while permitting water to exit away from such fibers. Thisarrangement allows the uniform distribution of the fibers within thecross section of the forming web and materially aids in producing ahigh-quality web having highly desirable characteristics. During thisarea of easy pressure, water continues to be removed along both sides ofthe newly forming web thereby allowing formation of a substantiallyuniform one-sided paper sheet.

As indicated hereinbefore, the travelling wires F, and F carry the newlyforming web therebetween the converge together into general parallelismafter the initial spacing and travel over the working surface of theplurality of aligned opposingly staggered foil guide means 15 which aresuccessively spaced downstream from the gap G to define a generallyvertically aligned serpentinelike path of travel therebetween generallyconcurring with the jetstream direction, i.e., downwardly. It will beunderstood that the term general parallelism" referred to hereinincludes the slight spacing caused by the sandwiched web between theforming wires and permits the slight movement of the wires toward oneanother as water is expressed from the newly forming web.

The foil guide means 15 present essentially stationary surfaces to themoving forming wire runs and are suitably rigidly mounted along beammeans B, and B which also support breast rolls 13 and 14. Thus, all ofthe guides in the forming section, i.e., the breast rolls and the foilguide means are mounted on opposed beam means B, and B in the manner asshown so that by properly positioning the beam means B, and 8,, theforming chamber defined by such guide members is properly formed andaligned for the production of continuous fibrous webs.

Each of the foil guide means 15 has a lead edge for contacting the wireruns and a trailing edge away therefrom. Each of the lead edges of thefoil guide means 15 contact the wire runs in such a manner as to cause adeflection from its previous path of travel at a relatively rapid rateof deflection sufficient to drive water through and away (by creation ofcentrifugal forces on the moving water) successively from the opposedsides of the forming wire runs. The rate of deflection may be varied asdesired, however, it must be at least about (from its previous path oftravel) and preferably more so as to obtain sufficient deflection todrive water (by virtue of gravity and centrifugal forces) through andaway from the exposed side of the wire runs. In this regard, it will benoted that, for example when a first foil guide means b contacts theconverging wire runs, it actually only contacts the second forming wireF and it urges this wire into parallelism against the first forming wireF, which is free from restraining means at the area of contact with suchfirst foil guide means 15b. This arrangement is repeated throughout theplurality of foil guide means, i.e., the area where each foil means isurging a particular wire against the other wire, said other wire is freefrom contact with restraining means at the area of that particular foilguide means. In this manner, substantially equal amounts of de wateringtake place along opposingly staggered areas of the newly forming web.

As will be appreciated, when the travelling wire runs F, and F carryingthe moist sandwiched web therebetween are deflected from their directionof travel, centrifugal force is imparted to the entire mass, butparticularly to the water present, since it is free to move. Thiscentrifugal force causes the water within the sandwiched web to bethrown through and away from the exposed sides of the forming wire.Thus, a plurality of substantial dewatering areas A, A, A etc. throughA, occur at each deflection in path of travel of the forming wire runs.Of course, gravity is acting on the entire mass and thereby aids thedewatering function. The expressed water contacts the solid sidesurfaces of the foil guide means 15 which directs such water intoconventional saveall devices for removal of this white water from theforming section. Besides the centrifugal and gravitational forces actingon the newly forming web, the wire tensions exert a positivepulsating-type pressure on the web as the wires travel past theplurality of foil means to express additional amounts of water at theareas of such foil guide means. Dewatering also occurs at the areas awayfrom the foil guide means along the exposed inner surfaces of therespective wire runs F, and F, In this manner, the substantial amount ofwater within the deposited paper stock is removed along both sides ofthe forming web preventing uneven fiber distribution therein. Thus,amounts of water are continuously removed along both wire surfacesthroughout the forming zone and particularly at the areas of deflection.

In regard to each particular foil guide means 15, it will be noted thatthey are provided with a working surface 1511 (best seen in FIG. 2)which is provided with a hard mirrorlike finish coating. This coating ispreferably tungsten carbide, titanium carbide or a ceramic-crystallinerefractory metal oxide, such as aluminum oxide, and polished tomirrorlike finish. Such a ceramic material coating will form a thinmonolithic surface layer over the foil guide surfaces which may bepolished to a mirrorlike finish to provide a substantially frictionlessarea of travel for the forming wires F, and F, The coating has aconstruction somewhat similar to and may be applied in accordance withthe teachings found in copending application of Charles W. E. Walker,U.S. Ser. No. 150,917, now abandoned, which is incorporated herein byreference. As will be appreciated, only the lead edge of the foil guidemeans need be coated with this mirrorlike finish coating. Additionally,such lead edge is somewhat rounded and thereby presents an area ofsurface contact with the travelling wire runs rather than mere linecontact as would be produced with a chiseledge. It has been found thatsuch chisel-like edges produce undesirable markings within the newlyforming web and damage the wire. Additional details of the foil guidemeans 15 may be gathered from U.S. Pat. No. 3,277,236 owned by theinstant assignee and incorporated herein by reference.

Referring back to the forming section 10, it will be noted that afterthe forming wires F, and F, complete their serpentinelike path of travelpast the last of the foil guide means 15 they continue travellingdownwardly past a further dewatering means 17. Dewatering means 17 isshown here as a plurality of stationary suction boxes acting on theinner peripheral surface of the forming wire F,. As the web travels pastthe dewatering means 17, the newly formed web has a tendency to adhereto the forming wire F, and depart from the forming wire F, The formingwire F, continues to travel downwardly to contact the peripheral surfaceof turning roll 21 which guides it away from the downward direction andback around to guide rolls 21a and to the upstream portion of theforming section 10. The wire F, carries the newly formed web W on itsoutside surface and continues to travel downwardly until it contactsturning roll 19 (here functioning as a couch roll having a suction gland19a) which directs the newly formed web W and its supporting wire F,away from the forming chamber. The turning roll 19 is provided with asuction gland 19a to insure that the newly formed web W does not departfrom the fonning wire F, during the area of turn.

The forming wire F, carries the newly formed web W upwardly to contact apickup felt PF which is wrapped around a small suction roll 24. Thepickup felt PF is trained over a plurality of guide rolls (not shown)defining a looped travelling felt that contacts the newly formed web totransfer the same from the forming section to other paper machinesections, such as a first press section, for additional processing adesired. A shown, the pickup felt PF carries the newly formed web Walong its upper surface past a lump clearing roll 234 removing anyadherent lumps therefrom in a well-known manner. The lump clearing roll23 is associated with a conveyor C removing any lumps or foreignmaterial away from the web for salvage or the like as desired. It willalso be noted that a doctor roll 24 is provided to contact forming wireF, along its outer surface, i.e., the surface which was in contact withthe web W, to remove any adherent foreign material therefrom. The roll24 is provided with doctor means 24a to remove any adherent foreignmaterial from such roll and direct it to the conveyor C. Turning rolls19 and 21 are shown as being connected with drive means M, and Mrespectively. The drive means M, and M drive the forming wires F, and Fvia said turning rolls substantially at jetstream speeds in asynchronized manner so that there is very little relative movementbetween the travelling wire runs and the jetstream. While the drivemeans are here shown as being connected with rolls 19 and 21, it will beappreciated that such drive means could be connected to other rolls asdesired.

Referring back to the details of the selectively movable beam mans B,and B, it will be appreciated that both such beam means aresubstantially identical and accordingly only beam means B, will bedescribed in detail. The beam means B, is composes of an elongated bodymember Ba having an upper end and a lower end. The upper end isconnected with hearing support means 13a in a conventional manner so asto provide support for such bearing means allowing it to carry breastroll 13 for rotation in a conventional manner. The lower end of theelongated body member Ba is provided with pivotal mounting means P,which is rigidly attached to a rigid frame member S. Pivotal mountingmeans may comprise an earlike member having a base portion attached tothe support S and an upstanding portion therefrom having an aperture forreceiving a suitable pin and thereby allowing the beam means B, toselectively pivot as desired. It will be noted that the support means Shas a stop member Js associated therewith in the vicinity of the lowerportion of the beam means B,. The stop means .ls has an angular worksurface Jss facing said beam means B, a limits the movement of such beammeans substantially as shown in FIG. 2. Power means .I, is suitablymounted to the stop member Js for selectively moving the beam means B,into a desired position. The power means J, may comprise a plurality ofhydraulically activated piston means having piston cylinders andextending piston rods. As shown, a pair of substantially similar pistonmeans may be mounted one on top of the other to obtain certainmechanical advantages. Thus, a first of such piston means is mounted onstop member .ls so that the cylinder thereof can pivot about stop memberJs and its rod extend upwardly toward the beam body Ba. The otherhydraulic piston means having its cylinder pivotally mounted on thepiston rod of the first piston means and its piston rod directlyconnected with the beam means. In this way, suitable control for theselective movement of the beam means B, is provided. As indicatedhereinbefore, beam means B is substantially similar and is provided witha power means J As shown in FIG. 2, when it is desired to change wiresand/or replace a particular element within the forming section 10, thepower means I, and J are actuated (via conventional hydraulic controlmeans, not shown) and caused to move the beam means B, and B away fromthe slice means 11a into the position shown at FIG. 2. It will be notedthat in this nonoperative position the wires F, and F are substantiallywithout tension and may be easily replaced, cleansed, etc. and that thevarious guide elements, i.e., rolls l3, 14 or foil guide means 15 areall exposed for servicing as necessary. Once the necessary servicing hasbeen accomplished, power means J, and J, are again actuated moving thebeam means back into their operative positions and all of the guideelements are automatically in proper alignment to define the formingsection and allow immediate startup of the machine without the necessityof individually adjusting each and every separate guide element toinsure its proper alignment without the forming chamber.

It will thus be seen that the invention provides an apparatus forforming a continuous fibrous web from a dilute aqueous suspension ofentangled comovmg fibers and comprises a means defining an elongatedforming chamber including a pair of spaced breast rolls in closelyspaced relation in a horizontal plane defining a vertically extendinggap therebetween, a plurality of opposed alternatively staggered foilguide mean below the breast rolls defining a generally verticallyaligned serpentinelike path of travel within the forming chamber and apair of opposed wire runs trained about the breast rolls and foil guidemeans defining said chamber, additional means for supporting the breastrolls and foil guide means in a selectively moveable manner allowingspeedy and convenient positioning thereof into operating andnonoperating positions as desired. Of course, a means for projecting thedilute aqueous suspensions into the vertically extending gap between thebreast rolls to form a fibrous web within the forming chamber is alsoprovided as well as a means for receiving and guiding the fibrous webaway from the forming chamber.

l claim as my invention:

1. In a device for forming a fibrous web and including means fordefining an elongated forming chamber having a pair of spaced breastrolls mounted for rotation in a closely spaced relation along ahorizontal plane so as to define a vertically extending gaptherebetween, a plurality of opposed altematingly staggered stationarydewatering means positioned below said breast rolls for defining agenerally vertically aligned path of travel with said forming chamber,one group of said dewater ing means being positioned below one of saidbreast rolls and another group of said dewatering means being positionedbelow the other of said breast rolls, a pair of opposed continuousforming wires trained to travel about said breast rolls and saidstationary dewatering means, means for projecting a dilute aqueoussuspension into said vertically extending gap between said wirestraveling over said breast rolls, said wires being arranged fortraveling at a speed sufficient to dewater said aqueous suspension asthe wires travel past said dewatering means, and frame means forsupporting said breast rolls and said dewatering means, the improvementcomprising a pair of opposed selectively movable beam means pivotallyattached the frame means, each of said beam means being rigidly attachedto one of said breast rolls and its dewatering means and means connectedto said movable beam means for pivoting said movable beam means.

2. The device as defined in claim 1, wherein each of the selectivelymovable beam means is pivotally mounted on a rigid frame means, andwherein said means for pivoting includes a power means connectedtherewith for selective pivotal movement of said beam means.

3. The device as defined in claim 2, wherein the power means comprisehydraulically actuated piston means.

4. The device as defined in claim 3, wherein the hydraulically actuatedpiston means comprises a pair of cooperating hydraulic piston means, oneof said piston means having the cylinder thereof pivotally mounted onthe rigid frame means and the other of said piston means having thecylinder thereof pivotally mounted on the piston rod of said one pistonmeans.

5. The device as defined in claim 2, wherein the rigid frame means has stop member connected thereto positively limiting the movement of themovable beams means.

6. The device as defined in claim 1, wherein each of the selectivelymovable beam means comprises an elongated body member having an upperand a lower end, a bearing mounting means connected to the upper end ofsaid body member and a pivotal attachment means connected to the lowerend of said body member.

Patent No.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Dated November 30, 1971 Inventor(s) Column1,

line line line line line Column 4,

line line line Column 5,

line line line line line line Column 6,

Signed Paul E. Tommeraasen It is certified that error appears in theabove-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are herebycorrected as shown below:

Title page, ABSTRACT, line 12, "the" (first occurrence thereof) shouldread --The--.

line 30, "rungs" should read --runs.

"thereof" should read --therefrom--; "steam" should read --stream--;

"of" should read --at--.

"the" (second occurrence thereof) should read ---and----; "surface"should read --surfaces.

"3, 277, 236" should read -3, 377, 236--; "a" (second occurrencethereof) should read --as--; "234" should read --23--.

"mans" should read --means--; "composes" should read -composed--; "a"should read --and--.

"without" should read --within--; "mean" should read --rneans--; "with"should read --within--;

prior to "the" insert ---to-; "s top" should read --a stop--; "beams"should read --beam--.

and sealed this 27th day of June 1 972.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR Attesting Officer OHM PO-105O (10-69) ROBERTGOTTSCHALK Commissioner of Patents USCOMM-DC GOSTG-F'GQ U 5 GOVERNMENTPRINTING OFFICE I 1969 O356-334

2. The device as defined in claim 1, wherein each of the selectivelymovable beam means is pivotally mounted on a rigid frame means, andwherein said means for pivoting includes a power means connectedtherewith for selective pivotal movement of said beam means.
 3. Thedevice as defined in claim 2, wherein the power means comprisehydraulically actuated piston means.
 4. The device as defined in claim3, wherein the hydraulically actuated piston means comprises a pair ofcooperating hydraulic piston means, one of said piston means having thecylinder thereof pivotally mounted on the rigid frame means and theother of said piston means having the cylinder thereof pivotally mountedon the piston rod of said one piston means.
 5. The device as defined inclaim 2, wherein the rigid frame means has a stop member connectedthereto positively limiting the movement of the movable beams means. 6.The device as defined in claim 1, wherein each of the selectivelymovable beam means comprises an elongated body member having an upperand a lower end, a bearing mounting means connected to the upper end ofsaid body member and a pivotal attachment means connected to the lowerend of said body member.